


Operation Medical

by SupremeMasterOverlordKhurro



Category: The Night Shift (TV 2014), The Resident (TV 2018)
Genre: Atlanta Georgia, Bring on the Chaos, Chastaine hospital, Conrad vs TC, Doctors, F/M, Google is my doctor, How many Veterans does it take to drive the nurses crazy, M/M, Medical, Military doctors, San Antonio Memorial, San Antonio Texas, The Night Shift 2014, Trick question, We have 3, hospital drama, only takes 1, the resident - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-21 19:28:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17648543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SupremeMasterOverlordKhurro/pseuds/SupremeMasterOverlordKhurro
Summary: *You do not have to have watched The Night Shift and The Resident for this story to make sense. If you've seen one series, you'll be able to catch on quickly to what happens.Cummings Medical Group has fallen into such deep bankruptcy, that they had no choice but to let go of San Antonio Memorial Hospital. Devastated at the loss of the ER, the Night Shift crew searches for a new hospital big enough to take on a team of doctors and nurses used to working under intense pressure, and a hospital with the willingness to take on their Combat Medical Training Program.Nic Nevins and Mina Okafor were looking for more doctors for their clinic, when they get a call from a Dr. Jordan Alexander, claiming she has a team of doctors and nurses with unmatched skill that are willing to volunteer their time while they attempt to get Castaine to hire them. That could be too good to be true, or so good that it can only be the truth.





	1. Prologue-ish

**Author's Note:**

> Just a reminder, if you haven't seen one or the other of the shows, you should still be able to understand and follow the story!  
> Also, I am not a med student (I'm studying politics and criminal justice, can't get much further from medicine than that, lol) so all my medical knowledge comes from medical dramas and Google. Apologies in advance. So while there will be some crazy intense medical stuff, a lot of behind the scenes will also happen in this story.
> 
> Also, just keep in mind that this chapter is mostly just setting the scene for what will eventually set everything into motion.

Nic was just getting ready to shut down the clinic for the night when the phone started to ring. Seeing as it wasn’t the emergency phone, she almost ignored it. It had been a crazy long day, and she was ready to just go home and go to bed. But that tiny voice in her head said to answer it, and so she did. 

“Hello, this is Chastain Park Memorial clinic, how can I help you?”

“Hi, I’m looking for a Nurse Nevins?” came the female reply on the other side. 

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Oh, great. I was calling because I saw online you were looking for volunteer doctors and nurses. Is there a certain amount you’re looking for?” 

 

Nic paused for a second. “A certain amount? Of what?”

“Doctors. Nurses.” the voice replied. “San Antonio Memorial was just shut down, and we have a team of ER doctors in need of work. We’ve been applying to Chastain Park Hospital as well, but have several looking to do some volunteer work on the side. Residents hoping it might help their resume, others who just can’t stand the idea of not being busy at all hours of the day.” 

The last part was said in a tone of voice that Nic recognized as one she often used when talking about Conrad. 

 

“Well, no there is no limit exactly, but are they aware that there isn’t much pay for this?”

“Yes, we all are.”

“Well if you could send me everyone’s files then, we’ll look through them and see what we can do. What’s your name again?” Nic sat at the desk, grabbing a pen and a sticky note pad.

“Oh, my bad. I’m Dr. Jordan Alexander. And yes, I will send those files in a few minutes- For Pete’s sake, Tee! How the hell did you manage that!?” 

Nic rose an eyebrow as she listened. In the background, she had heard a door open and slam close, and then Jordan had yelled at someone, and there was the fuzzy sound of a reply that she couldn’t quite hear. 

 

“I’m sorry about it. I’ll send the files right away. Thank you!”

Before Nic could answer, the phone hung up. 

 

~~

 

Jordan turned back to TC and glared at him as he dug through the freezer for the ice pack, and held it over his eye. He had just walked in the door with his eye nearly swollen shut, a bloody lip, and blood crusting his hair. His SWAT uniform was also stained with blood, and he had a bloody hand. His hair was sticking up in every direction, as if he had taken his helmet off -again- during a raid. 

“It’s not as bad as you think-”

“Oh, I’ve heard that before. Sit.” She pointed to the kitchen table, and he put a hand up in surrender, making his way over to it and sitting down heavily. He had been out all night with the SWAT team, and then working with the combat medical trainees all day. She pulled the ice pack off to get a better look at the eye, carefully pulling it open so she could shine a little light in. “What happened?” 

 

“We had to raid a bar, where a biker gang was hanging out. They uh...well, they were a little drunk and very angry that the law doesn’t want them to have drugs they don’t need or that the law doesn’t want to be smuggling drugs back and forth across the border. I just managed to reopen the lip as I was yelling at some kid who almost gave the wrong blood to one of the fake patient.” He explained, putting the ice pack back in place once she finished examining the eye. She finished checking him over, and stood back, sighing and giving him the look that meant he was about to be scolded. 

 

“You should have come home after the SWAT raid. There’s no need to prove yourself by going to the training program too!” She growled. 

“Well Drew called out already because both him and Bri are sick, and Scott doesn’t have the combat experience!” TC defended himself. Jordan took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. This was normal. It was perfectly normal for TC to do stuff like this, to push himself to the brink. But that didn’t make it any less annoying. And without the hospital to keep him busy, he was going stir crazy. Like Topher had once said, chaos is TC’s happy place. He needs the excitement. 

 

“Did you eat?” She asked, calmer now. 

“We swung by McDonalds on the way here. Rick drove.”

“Good. Go to bed then. I’m sending the files to Chastain clinic, and we have interviews with the hospital next week. I have a good feeling about that one.”

“Don’t stay up too late. I get cold without you up there with me.” He kissed her head as he got up, before making his way up the stairs of their apartment and disappearing out of sight. Jordan sighed, praying this new hospital would work out, and be a new beginning for her and Tee. 

 

~~

 

Nic checked her email when she got back home, and found an email from Jordan, with all the files attached already. She forwarded them to Mina, having already told her of the call on her way home, and then sat down at her computer to go over the files. The first one she looked at was Jordan’s. With each file, she found there was a letter written by the former CEO of the hospital, Julian Cummings. 

 

“To Whom it may concern:

Jordan graduated from a medical university in Chicago, spent a few years working in the more dangerous part of the city treating gunshot wounds regularly, before going to finish her Residency in San Antonio, working the ER. She had been in charge of the ER for a while before being removed as leader due to losing a high profile patient (who was also a drug smuggler/serial killer who held her and several others hostage). I do not believe it was her fault the patient died. She helped kickstart SAMs Combat Medic training program, and was one of the trainers for it. Dr. Alexander has proven to be a very skilled, very dependable doctor. Anyone would adds her to their team would be benefiting greatly.

-Signed, 

Julian Cummings, Neurosurgeon, Founder of Cummings Medical Group”

 

There was also a list of several reviews by patients, comments by other employees in the hospital, and then the actual resume, which was very impressive. Nic added her to the list of potential workers. She thought this Dr. Alexander would make a great addition. The next one was Dr. Thomas Charles Callahan. 

 

“To Whom it May Concern:

Dr. Callahan is a former Army Ranger medic, graduated top of his class from John Hopkins. Four tours of duty to Iraq and Afghanistan gave him plenty of field experience. He works very well under pressure, and keeps a very level head during emergencies. He spent several months volunteering at a Sryian Refugee camp that later got bombed, and was taken POW before escaping, saving a fellow medic, and finding their way to a White Helmets group, where he then worked for several more months. He is also on the SWAT team in San Antonio, and is one of the head trainers in the Combat Medic training program. 

But be warned, he is difficult to work with sometimes and does not have much respect for authority. He will bend rules to help anyone in need and put himself at risk if he thinks it will save someone else. However, he is an incredibly valuable member to any ER team, and an amazing doctor. His knowledge of battlefield medicine has saved many people over the years and is invaluable.

-Signed, 

Julian Cummings, Neurosurgeon, Founder of Cummings Medical Group”

 

This file was much thicker, and filled with a mix of complaints and compliments. Most of the complaints came from higher ups, complaining that he drank, that he didn’t follow the rules, that he was rebellious and hard to control. But the compliments praised him for being an amazing doctor, that he was the only one that could have saved them or their child, that he worked for the people and not the system. His resume was a long one, showing a past of arrested or court dates due to rebellious behavior as a kid, his volunteering for the Army when he saw 9/11 on the TV in the courtroom, his outstanding progress in ranger school, outstanding grades from John Hopkins, getting kicked out of the Army because he was ‘disrespectful’ and ‘difficult to control’, and a list of all the ground breaking or crazy things he had done or suggested were done as a doctor in the Texas ER night shift. ECMO in the field, going out to catch a pig to reattach a hand the pig had eaten, running under fire during SWAT raid to help a comrade and saving his life by performing surgery in a hospital with no power after it had been hacked, crawling through the air ducts after a serial killer/drug smuggler, his work in Syria, and his work training future combat medics and first responders.

 

It was not so easy as it was with Jordan, but in the end decided Dr. Callahan was at least worth an interview. He seemed like an incredibly skilled doctor, and in some ways, similar to Conrad in that he didn’t like to follow orders. The difference being that while Conrad would back down on occasion, Callahan did not. That could be good or bad.

 

The other two were residents. One, Paul Cummings, was looking for his last year of residency. He was a gifted surgeon, very sweet with good bedside manner, and had done some work with the White Helmets over in Afghanistan in the past year. Shannon still had a few years left of her residency, but was decisive and determined and a good doctor. Her bedside manner wasn’t very great, but her skills as a doctor were good. She did a lot of work on the Reservation. Nic put them in the pile as well, though had a little more hope for the two older doctors. Jordan seemed like the best fit, but if they could find a way to work with Callahan, there was a chance he would be really beneficial as well. And the Combat Medic Training program seemed very interesting as well. That could be something else that Chastaine could implement. 

 

She flipped quickly through some of the other files. A nurse named Kenny who was outstanding at his job, who the patients loved, who was the ‘joymaker’ of the Night Shift. Always dependable as a nurse and as a friend. Drew Alister, who was still Active Duty military, and another skilled doctor though not as reckless as Callahan. She put them all in the pile, and decided she would talk it over with Mina tomorrow to decide who to call in for an interview. They would be coming from Texas, so they would probably need to be sure that it would be a good match before calling. 

 

~~

 

The next morning, Mina found her first. Before the clinic opened, Nic was going through their supply and making a list of things they would need to restock soon. 

“Those doctors who’s files you sent could make or break us.” Mina said by way of greeting. “Dr. Alexander seems like a good one. I’m not so sure about Dr. Callahan. He seems like a loose canon, and we don’t need those.” 

 

“He does, but he also seems like a really good doctor who cares more about the patient than the money. He might be what we need.” Nic reasoned. 

“Or he could be what gets us shut down. Bell barely tolerates Conrad, and only tolerates him because his dad owns the hospital. Conrad is not a loose canon or an adrenaline junky.” Mina argued.

“Conrad is different. He was a Marine Corpsman, so he wasn’t in combat as often. Callahan was an Army Ranger, so he would have been in the fight regularly. He can work under intense pressure, successfully, and has a level head when things go south. I think we should at least interview him.” Nic turned back to the box of viles they had. “We need to order more of these, too. Oh, and I think Dr. Alexander and Dr. Callahan may be a package deal. Part of the file said she’s the only one that can really get through to him.”

 

“And what of the others?” Mina asked, not willing to waste time arguing over someone they hadn’t met yet. 

“They seem good. I agree about Dr. Alexander, she seems like a really good fit. Dr. Cummings and Rivera seem good too, though apparently Rivera doesn’t have the greatest bedside manner. We can always use more nurses, and from what it sounds like, Kenny is a good one. Much easier to use a nurse that already knows his job than having to train a new one. I think they all deserve an interview at least, and we can decide from there.” Nic said, and their conversation ended as the first patients began to show up. 

 

~~

  
  


Six days later, Jordan was seriously wondering why she thought driving to Atlanta with TC, Shannon, and Paul was a good idea. Kenny had come early to see a basketball game. Shannon and Paul were both asleep in the backseat. Jordan was driving, and TC was more or less turning colors in the passenger seat looking particularly miserable. He hadn’t asked for her to pull over yet today, so she assumed he wasn’t quite nauseous enough to puke, but she knew that would change for sure once they hit Atlanta traffic. Especially if it was stop and go. What she had learned about TC long ago is that for short rides, he’s fine. Rides with open roofs, such as a jeep or his motorcycle, perfectly fine. But a long ride in a small car,  no bueno. He got carsick whenever they had gone on road trips when they were younger or even just driving to the beach or something. Thad had even warned her, back when she first met the Callahan brothers, that taking TC on a long road trip was a mistake. 

 

Granted, Thad had also told her that the best way to travel with TC is to heavily medicate him, but she had later learned that he does not respond well to anesthesia. She had had to throw away the scrubs her mother had gotten her for graduation because he had basically projectile vomited on them, the first time she had ever gotten to wear them. Supposedly he still had no recollection of that day, which given how incredibly out of it he had been, she wasn’t surprised. 

 

According to the GPS, there were 2 more hours left in the drive. They had left yesterday, making frequent stops and staying a few hours in a motel to get some sleep and to give TC a break from the constant moving. They should be hitting the traffic in about an hour and a half. They had been on the road now for 7 hours today, and the motion sickness pills were obviously reaching the end of effectiveness. 

 

“Did you book us two rooms or one?” TC asked, breaking the silence. 

“Two. You snore loud enough to keep everyone else awake, and since I’m used to it, I figured I should let the other two have a nice quiet night.” She replied. 

“I do not snore.”

Jordan gave him a look with a raised eyebrow, and he sighed. 

“Okay, I do snore. But you do too.”

“Sure I do.” She eased on the breaks as someone cut in front of them, going just slow enough that they had to slow down a little, but not slow enough to require her to slam on the breaks. TC groaned, and his wrapped around his stomach. 

“Next truck stop.” He told her, and she nodded and moved to the right, so they could get off at the next exit. 

  
  


It was around dinner time when they finally pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, but the mention of food had had TC gagging. Jordan got their room keys for both rooms, handing two to Shannon and Paul, who would be sharing, and giving the other to TC while keeping one for herself. 

“You go up and rest. I’m going to go find some dinner. I’ll bring something back for you.” She said, and he gave a nod and went to look for the stairs. 

 

As expected, by the time they got back Jordan found TC already curled in bed, fast asleep. She put her togo box in the little fridge, showered, then after drying her hair, she climbed into bed with the man who had stood by her for years, and they fell asleep together, both wondering how the interviews tomorrow would go. 


	2. Welcome to the Team

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for this, I suck as writing introductions and interviews, so I threw it some conviently timed chaos, in honor of how all medical dramas typically do things. Also, a reminder that I have no medical knowledge in relation to people (horses, I got some). So the medical stuff may be wrong. 
> 
> Also, Nic/Conrad and Jordan/TC are the 4 main characters and 2 main couples, because as much as I love all the others, I just don't know how to write them as well at the moment. I'm hoping to figure it out soon. But regardless, here is the chapter.

Jordan had woken up to the feeling of freezing cold holds wrapping around her and the feeling of beard stubble on her shoulder. TC was awake then. And from the way he was trailing his fingers over her stomach, he was requesting some pre-breakfast exercise. Jordan rolled her eyes, but she would play along anyway. 

 

*aye, just a wee time skip here*

 

Jordan rested her head on his shoulder for a few minutes, both satisfied and content. If it weren’t for the fact that they needed to get this job, they would have probably laid there all day. Her alarm went off to actually wake them up, and with a groan she reached over to him to turn it off. He grunted as she pushed on his stomach to reach it, but she figured that would simply be her revenge for him waking her up before the alarm. 

“Get up, we have to look presentable if we’re going to get this job.” She told him, climbing out of bed. 

“You’re always presentable.” was his response, making no move to get out of bed at all.

“And you’re not. So get up.” She tossed a pillow at him, and made her way into the bathroom to shower. 

 

~ 

They met Paul, Shannon, and Kenny in the lobby once they both awake and dressed. 

The first interview would be at the main Chastain Hospital. After that they would head to the clinic for the interviews there, and then they planned on going to dinner somewhere nice if the interviews went well. A bar if they went bad. They were within a walking distance to the hospital, so once everyone was ready, they walked over together in an anxious silence. This was the only place that had said they could consider hiring all 5 of them. All the other hospitals they had applied to had said they had room to hire one, maybe two. If they didn’t get this one, they would have to split up their little family. It was bad enough that the whole night shift couldn’t find a job together. 

 

When they arrived at the hospital, a high-school aged boy greeted them. 

“Hey, are you five the group from Texas here for the interviews?” He asked. 

“Yes-”

“Is it really as crazy in Texas as they say on the internet? I’ve heard people there wrestle bulls while naked and settle bar fights with duels fought in the street.” He asked enthusiastically. Before Jordan could answer, Shannon jumped in. 

“Oh yeah, that’s exactly how it is. Tumbleweeds blow by before every duel, and people peek out from the swinging doors of all the saloons.” She told him seriously, and the kid looked completely amazed. Paul, Kenny, and TC all looked like they were trying not to laugh. Jordan, deeming herself the only mature adult of the group, decided to get them moving again. 

 

“Can we go up to see Dr. Bell now?” She asked, and the kid jumped. 

“Oh, yes! Sorry, we don’t get many people from Texas, and I was just curious, but come, follow me!” and he scurried away, leading them to a nice sitting area with a cafe, clearly meant to attract more wealthy patients. He lead them to a table where a tall, older man was sitting, reading something on his phone as he sipped at what was safe to assume to be coffee.

 

“Got ‘em, Dr. Bell.” The boy said proudly, and the man -Dr. Bell- gave the boy a droll stare for a few seconds, before the kid got the message and hurried off. Bell turned a smile to Jordan and the others. 

“So, you must be Dr. Alexander, Callahan, Cummings, Rivera, and Nurse Fournette. Pleasure to meet you all.” He shook all their hands in turn as he said their names. “So, I’ve read all your files over the past few days and discussed it with the board. They all had the same concern. Please, sit.” He gestured to the seats around the table and everyone sat with a growing sense of dread.

 

“All of you had very good reviews from Cummings senior. However, looking at all your records,” He looked pointedly at TC, and Jordan suppressed a groan. Of course, that would be the problem. TC’s issues with authority, his past of alcoholism, and his habit of breaking rules. 

“It appears Dr. Callahan is a bit of a loose canon. Do you disagree?” Bell finished, still locked in contact witht TC. Jordan silently begged Tee to keep himself filtered and behave. 

 

“I have had some problems with authority before.” TC admitted slowly, still holding eye contact.  _ Dammit, they’re testing each others dominance already. Like rutting deer, I swear.  _ Jordan thought. She kicked TC discreetly under the table, and from the twitch of his fingers knew he realized what she wanted. “But it’s gotten better. A night shift is Texas is a little different from Georgia. Less need for ‘cowboy methods’.” 

 

Not quite what she wanted, but good enough. Hopefully. Bell didn’t seem entirely convinced. 

“A report done by a Mr. Ragosa says you knocked him out because he wouldn’t give you permission to admit someone due to insurance.”

“It was a baby going into Kidney failure. She would have died if we tried to transport her somewhere else.” TC said carefully. “Would you want your hospital to be known as the one that let a baby girl die just because her parents didn’t have insurance?” 

 

A few seconds of tense silence had Jordan almost wishing she hadn’t had that bagel for breakfast.

“No, I wouldn’t want my hospital being known for doing that.” Bell agreed, and Jordan let out the breath she hadn’t known she was holding. “I’ve also heard you were kicked out of the army, during wartime, because your inability to listen. You’ve had breakdowns in an operating room-”

“Now that’s not fair!” Jordan interrupted. “Both those things happened years ago, and nothing like them has happened since. It was one breakdown, after we were held hostage in the CT room by a psychopath with a gun. Our friend almost died after being shot by him. The circumstances surrounding that event were more than enough to excuse it.” 

 

Bell turned that stare to her, and held it for a few minutes, before nodded. “Fair enough. Why don’t we go on a tour of the hospital?” He stood from his chair, and the other four rose with him, still a little tense, but hoping that a tour meant they would get the jobs. Bell had read their files. Jordan could tell he had already assessed their personality types. It was clear at day with this group that her and TC were very alpha-type personalities. TC especially, he practically radiated ‘alpha male’. Paul was submissive, though getting a little better at being more assertive. Shannon was leaning more towards alpha as well, while Kenny was not an alpha personality. He could step up when he had to, as they all could, but he was happy to let others take the lead in most situations.  Not being in charge was part of what he liked the most, Jordan suspected. 

 

The first part of the tour went pretty good. It was simple, a layout like many others. They had started with the labs, the scan rooms, and basic exam rooms. There were a few patients in those rooms, getting routine work done or getting a cast removed or X-rays looked at. Simple, not really life-threatening stuff. It was when they got to the ER and the ICU part of the hospital were things got interesting. 

 

In the typical way things worked for the former Night Shift crew, the moment they walked into the ER, a multi-car pile up was called in. Ambulances would be arriving in minutes, patients in various conditions and the type of organized chaos that an ER doctor thrived in. 

“It’s a big one, Dr. Bell! They’re saying it’s 10 vehicles and one of those is a fuel carrier. They’re closing the road and trying to get everyone out of the area in case the fuel carrier blows. The engine is smoking.” One of the nurses called. 

 

“Get Dr. Oakfore and Nurse Nevins here then, and anyone on call.” Dr. Bell ordered, going through a mental list of who was in today. 

“Let us help.” Jordan interrupted his thoughts. 

“Emergency care is our specialty, and you’re going to need all the help you can get.” Paul added. Bell looked for a moment like he wanted to protest, but then he nodded, and looked around. 

“Pravesh! Show these doctors where the extra scrubs are. They’re going to join us today, pair each with a doctor here so they get the rundown.” 

 

Dr. Pravesh didn’t look thrilled at the job, but since he was still a resident, he had no choice. “Come on.” He waved for them to follow. “You can just call me Devon, it’s easier. What are your names?”

“I’m TC, this is Jordan, Paul, Shannon, and Kenny.” TC replied fasted, adrenaline already kicking in. He wished he could go out to the accident, be on the scene and working to get people out of there. Waiting for patients to get here was more stressful than actually working on them.

“The new people from Texas?” Dr. Pravesh pushed open the doors to a break room. “A quick heads up about this place, Bell does not like rule breakers, so be careful what you do or say around him. And don’t go in the elevator in the west hall, it’s occasionally occupied by a pair of lovebirds and sometimes gets stuck or ‘breaks down’.”

In the cabinet above the sink, they kept extra scrubs. A quick glance was enough to see that pretty much all of them would fit in a medium, if not a small, so he pulled them down and held them out. They were all basic, navy blue. He also pulled down some extra stethoscopes, and hoped they worked right.

“These should be good, if not, just look for the other sizes up here. Bathrooms are across the hall, I gotta go get back to the ER, good luck!” Devon handed out the scrubs and then left in a hurry, his pager already buzzing. 

It only took a matter of minutes for the Night Shift crew to have the scrubs on, their other clothes piled more or less carelessly in a corner out of the way, and then they were hurrying down the hall towards the sounds of chaos. Kenny went over to the nurses station, quickly explaining to one of them that he had been an ER nurse for years, and only needed a quick rundown on the ways of this ER. 

 

Ambulances were pulling up, and patients being rolled in, voices calling out orders and requests. Devon re-appeared next to them. 

“Paul, you can come with me. Irving! Take Shannon, TC can go with Conrad, and Jordan with-”

“I’ll take her!” Nic came up, having heard the names from the interview. She was a little out of breath from rushing from from the clinic, but what better way to get to the know her new potential employees than working with them?

“Ok. Where’s Conrad?” Devon asked. Nic did a quick scan of the room, before pointing down a hall where Conrad was running back towards them. He had been with another patient, and had just gotten the chance to come back. “TC, go with him, good luck, he can be an asshole.” Devon said quickly, before pulling Paul with him to grab one of the stretchers being rushed in. The head of the ER was calling out what trauma room to bring the patients too. 

 

~

 

Jordan and Nic~

 

“Hi Jordan, I’m Nic Nevins, I run the clinic.”

“Good to meet you.” 

They were each on one side of an unconscious woman who had glass fragments sticking out of her face. Her eye was swollen shut and blood covered most of her face and matted her hair. Nic was hooking her up to various machines, attaching wires and getting an IV set up for a blood transfusion, while Jordan was looking for the most serious injury. Despite all the glass fragments, there wasn’t any major bleeding to be seen. She must have been one of the later cars to hit the pileup, so she hadn’t been crushed by someone behind her. 

 

The two women fell into a rhythm, finding it very easy to work together despite having never actually met. They knew their jobs, were professional at it, and concentrated. The patient was the most important thing. They worked quickly and efficiently, removing glass shards and stitching up the more serious lacerations. For them, this would work out well. 

 

~

 

TC and Conrad~

 

Two alpha personalities, both military men, with different experiences, working on the same patient. There were two ways this would go. Either would go perfectly, and they would be an unstoppable team of medical superheroes, or it would become a challenge and a competition for dominance. Devon had not known anything about any of the Texas doctors other than that they were from Texas. Everyone knew they were from Texas, because it had been the talk of the week, as everyone made bets on if they would sound like Sandy Cheeks from Spongebob or like some cowboy in an old Western movie. Had Devon known TC was a military man, he probably would not have paired TC and Conrad together. 

 

But they were paired up, and there was nothing that could be done about it now. TC was keeping in mind what Jordan had stressed the whole week leading up to coming here: ‘behave for the first few weeks at least, don’t pick a fight, let someone else be in charge for once.’

This was challenge for him to begin with, because TC did not always play well with others. He even had a shirt (courtesy of Drew) saying ‘Does Not Play Well With Others’ in big, bright letters. He wore it a lot, on days when he had off and was trying to function on a normal person’s schedule. 

 

The patient the men had was someone who had been in the middle of the pile up. It was a teenage boy, his left leg hanging on by threads, his head cracked open, multiple broken ribs and a punctured lung. This was the stuff TC was best in. Multiple life-threatening injuries, in a race against the clock. Conrad had dealt with this stuff before as well, but not on the same scale or as often. Once he had gotten out of the Corps, he had worked mainly on patients with illnesses. That was not to say that he was out of practice. 

 

Monitors going crazy all over the ER, the yelling voices from outside the room, the absolute chaos of it all, yet neither man seemed bothered by the noise. They were focused, each working on trying their best to save this boy. 

 

TC was focused on the boy’s head, while Conrad was working to save the lung. 

“Kid’s eye socket it broken.” TC said, after feeling the slight shift around the boy’s left eye. 

“His lung is about to collapse.” Conrad stated, reaching behind him and grabbing a tube. “He’s going need to surgery. And a lot of good luck.” 

TC helped him get the tube placed, trying not to move the boy’s head at all. 

“He’ll never make it to the OR.” TC said. “They need to do it here.”

“Surgery in the ER?”

“If I had a dime every time something said that to me, in that tone of voice, I could pay for the med school of at least 5 people.” TC sighed. “If you don’t think your surgeons can handle it, call Paul.”

“My surgeons can handle it just fine, it’s you who I don’t think can handle it.” 

TC glared at him. “I’ve handled much worse before, with less to work with. You can either buckle up and help me save this boy, or you can send him to his death.” 

A short stare-down ensued, but in the end, Conrad knew TC was right about this one. If they sent this boy up to the OR now, he would die before ever reaching it. 

“I’m paging our surgeons anyway. They can take over faster that way.” 

 

TC nodded, accepting the terms, and they set to work on cutting off the boys torn shirt. 

 

~~

 

It was 6 hours of hell before the chaos of the car pile up to die to to just people coming in with some concussions and broken bones. Most of the patients now were the first responders who had burned themselves on hot cars or cut themselves on a bit of rust. Thankfully, the fuel tanker hadn’t exploded. 

 

Jordan and Nic found Conrad and TC in the breakroom, Conrad lounged on the couch and TC trying to scrub the blood from under his fingernails. Not that that would make much of a difference, seeing his shirt was covered in blood and there were still splashes of it on his face. Conrad had already changed into cleaner clothes and had washed the blood off. 

 

Conrad tilted his head back when he heard the door open to see Nic coming in, a little bit of blood splattered on her, but not as much as was on TC after they continuously got the patients with the worst injuries. That wasn’t done on purpose, it was just how it had ended up. 

 

“That was...crazy.” Devon announced as he came in, followed by Paul, Irving, and Shannon.

“Yeah it was. We don’t get that kind of excitement very often.” Irving agreed. “At least not that bit.”

“All the time in San Antonio.” Shannon threw herself into a chair, exhausted but satisfied with the work today. The patients she had been with had all lived so far. They were all expected to live this crash. She wasn’t sure about the others’ patients, but knowing what she did about the Night Shift crew, they would move heaven and earth before losing a patient. 

 

“Are all of you as crazy as he is?” Conrad asked, gesturing in TC’s direction. TC turned away from the sink, drying his hands on a paper towel. 

“Nah, I’m the worst of them.” He assured him, with an almost proud nod.

“How’d you figure it out?” Jordan asked Conrad. 

“First patient would’ve died with surgery, and there was no time to get the kid up there.” TC shrugged, just as Mina walked in. 

“The kid you guys operated on in the ER should be okay. The other kid is scheduled for surgery tomorrow.” She told them. Conrad and TC both nodded. 

 

Nic looked around, seeing most of the Texas crew was there in the room. “Well, this wasn’t exactly how I had planned on interviewing you guys, but after today I think you all would be really good additions to the clinic. Mina?” She looked to her partner in running the clinic to see if she would agree.

“I agree.” She said simply. 

“Then so long as you guys don’t mind little to no pay...welcome to the clinic.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, may the fight for male dominance begin! Conrad, Bell, and TC the same room is a recipe for disaster and I love it. I'm going to have writing those scenes in the future.   
> And the TC/Conrad interactions will get more entertaining too. If there's one thing I know about military men, it's they love competition. All military branches, constantly think they're the best, so an Army Ranger and a Corpsman, this will be entertaining. But, as I am not in military, but spend a lot of time reading about military history and a lot of time around military families in my life, some things may not been 100% accurate. But, it's fine. Tis only a fictional story!

**Author's Note:**

> Well I'm not too thrilled with this first chapter, but I had to get the intro stuff out to lay the scene. Next chapter will have the interviews and, in honor of all medical dramas ever, the disaster that secures the jobs for the main characters.


End file.
